The Gift
by scarlet's.guarded.heart
Summary: Do you ever wonder why there was a white roller skate in Chuck and Sarah's closet in 5.08? Here's my version of it. Full of fluff.


**I do not own Chuck or any of its characters. Enjoy!**

**Set between 5.01 and 5.02**

* * *

Chuck thought that it was an ordinary day, or so he thought. Their day started like any other, him waking up later than his beautiful wife and finding her making breakfast, an omelet.

"Good morning, Sarah." He said as he kissed her forehead

"Good morning, Chuck. Everything all right?" she asked as she feels he is still down with Decker freezing all of their money.

"Yeah, yeah…" he yawned, "just hadn't had enough sleep, I guess."

He went to make coffee for both of them and stretched a little as sit down for breakfast.

"So, I'm thinking of going to the mall for the day." She said as she set down their breakfast.

"Oh… Need some company?" Chuck asked as he thought that he should take a day off from thinking strategies to fund Carmichael Industries.

"I always like your company." She squeezed her hand in his arm as she said this.

He smiled at his wife, "Sorry, I know I work overtime at CI these days, but with everything that is happening…"

"It's okay Chuck. I understand." Sarah said as she beamed at him

He took her hand from his arm and kissed it, "Want to have a date with me all day, Mrs. Bartowski?"

Chuck swore that he saw his wife blush a little despite her having to bow her head to avoid looking at him. He was glad that he could still make her blush in spite being married for quite some time now.

"I'll be glad to spend the day with you, Mr. Bartowski." she replied, trying to imitate a proper English woman

He kissed her on the lips then, it lingered longer than he expected until they broke apart. "So, what do we do first?"

xoxoxoxo

Chuck thought that it was tough to leave the confines of their apartment after a morning quickie in the shower and another round in their bed but he never thought Sarah will take the lead for their date today.

"C'mon Chuck… we really need to shop some stuff. We're running out of groceries." She said as he was still naked under the sheets and she looking all dressed up casually in a white blouse, tight jeans and stiletto boots with her blonde hair tied up in a messy bun.

"What? Oh, come on! Tell me you're at least tempted to stay with me under these sheets." He did his eyebrow dance while posing with his hand on the side of his head and his front body, while covered in the sheets, faced her.

Sarah threw him a pillow that was on the floor and it landed with an 'Umphf!'

"Stop it!" she said with a big smile on her face, clearly enjoying his teasing

"Fine… but it's not my fault you resisted." He said as he stood up to go to the closet and the sheets fell off his body.

It took a lot of Sarah's willpower not to pounce on Chuck's cute buttocks and accept his invitation on staying in the bed all day, but she knew that they hadn't had a date in a while and she needed to get Chuck's head away from their financial problems. His lack of sleep was a sign of him being stressed from all that is happening.

"Honey? Are we taking my car or yours?" Chuck asked from the bathroom

"Your car, I guess." She replied without looking up from her magazine.

Sarah heard footsteps after five minutes later and she looked up to see Chuck wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans and his favorite chucks.

"All set. Ready?" he asked as he asked for her hand.

She accepted his hand and kissed his cheeks, "Ready."

"Gee, Sarah. For you to still make me nervous, it feels like we just started dating." He whispered to her ear with a smile and squeezed her hand as they left their apartment.

"Glad to hear that, hon. Just remember," she pulled up their clasp hands with his ring in it and added, "I already chose you."

xoxoxoxo

He and Sarah run some of their routine errands in the mall like picking up their dry cleans, looking for a new comic book to read and shop for some clothes after leaving their groceries in a baggage counter. And though he knew that they were married for a while now, it never surprised Chuck how lovely his wife is and is still getting to be hit on.

He was buying a new blend of milk tea that Morgan was rumbling about the other day, but he can't believe how long the line was. So he asked Sarah to sit somewhere and wait for him as he ordered them a big cup. He wasn't surprised to find her sitting across an unknown man clearly more handsome than he is and more muscular.

He never stopped wondering what it was with him that Sarah loves so much. But he was assured of that insecurity when it came up one evening before their wedding. And she explained to him that he's more attractive than he thought he was and that night when they we're making love, she whispered specific things that made her fall for him every day.

The guy, facing his back with him, was clearly trying to make a move on Sarah without being so touchy. And as Chuck neared her seat, he heard Sarah say,

"Sorry. Happily married." She showed off her wedding band and added, "Speaking of which, here he comes…" she stood up and said genuinely, "Hey hon!"

"Hey, babe." He said as he reached her, she kissed him deeply when he was near. His aversion to PDAs be damned. Nothing beats Sarah kissing him in public for real.

When it was over, he was sure that there were a few onlookers and the guy flirting with Sarah was long gone. Her hands were on his neck and she was pressing to him very dangerously that he was thankful that both of his hands were pretty occupied. Otherwise, he would definitely hold her nearer him.

"Took you long enough. I thought you forgot you have a wife waiting patiently for you."

"Sorry, the line was long. Anyway, I thought some guy got you occupied." He said, clearly teasing,

"Oh? There was some guy? I didn't know."

"Haha...nice try Sarah. Let's sit?"

"Nah, can we just walk? I have something to show you."

"All right, wifey." He smiled as they walk slowly. "Here's the milk tea Morgan's been talking about." She took it and held his now free hand.

"Let's drink it along the way."

"What? We're going somewhere?"

"Yeah," Seeing his curious face, she added, "Trust me, Chuck."

He kissed her cheek and said, "Of course."

xoxoxoxo

"Can I open my eyes now?" Chuck asked as Sarah helped him get out of the car

"Not yet. Watch your step. We're nearing the gutter."

After a few more steps, Sarah said, "Okay, open your eyes Chuck."

Chuck wasn't sure how Sarah found this place but there it was, an outdoor roller skating rink in the middle of a children's play park.

"This is something new. How'd you find this?" he asked as Sarah led him to a rental skate counter.

"Ellie took me here a few days ago. She thought it would help us babysit Clara when we need to. Apparently, Clara likes sitting on Ellie's lap when they're sitting on the swings." She replied with a smile as a clerk asked what sizes they need.

"I don't skate, Sarah." He confessed nervously.

"It's okay, Chuck. I'll teach you." She replied with a wink and said to the clerk their sizes.

"You- You know how to skate?" he asked and he was surprised at Sarah's revelation. Then the rental skates came and Sarah handed his skates to him.

"Yup. When I was young and I was still with my Dad, we were passing by a town one summer and its main attraction was a yearly competition of Roller derby."

They sat on one of the benches and Sarah helped Chuck standing up when they were done tying their skates and deposit their shoes in the rental counter.

"Careful, Chuck." she warned as Chuck was about to land on his face when suddenly he holds the bars around the rink, trapping Sarah between his arms.

"Sorry." He said apologetically but chuckling.

"For someone who claims to be a nerd, you sure know how to trap a woman unintentionally. Pretty smooth, Bartowski."

"Hey! I didn't know-" he was cut off by Sarah kissing him, with her hands raking around his neck and finally resting on his hair. It was long, yes, but not like the one they shared in the mall. This wasn't hurried or hungrier, it was sweet and breathless. When they broke off, she smiled and said. "I'm just teasing, Chuck."

He kissed her again and asked, "Tell me how you'd learn to skate?"

"Well, I was fascinated. I mean, despite the violence that's present in the game, it was nice to see the players enjoy it after every game. They would smile afterwards and shake each other's hands. It was a small town so I figured everybody was friendly with each other. Then one of the players noticed me and invited me on the rink when they were practicing. They taught me patiently and eventually, I learned how to skate, they even treat me as a friend."

"Where was your dad at the time?"

"He was conning the town mayor to invest in his nonexistent grape orchard. So we were there for quite some time." she said sadly

He kissed he forehead and said, "I'm sorry."

She smiled and said, "It's in the past Chuck," she removed her hands in his neck and placed it in his hands, "Now, if I recall correctly, my sexy husband doesn't know how to skate and I would like very much teach him how to."

"Funny, because I don't know if I can take my hands off these bars. I might really fall."

"That's okay." She kissed his cheek and added, "I'll catch you when you fall."

"Good Lord, what have I done to Sarah Walker?"

"It's Sarah Bartowski now, mister." She said and got out of his arms, "I'm serious, Chuck. I'll be here to catch you."

"Okay." He said as he let go of his hand slowly and started stumbling again when Sarah catches him.

"See? You just have to glide slowly first then-" she hadn't finished what she was saying when they both fell, buttocks first. They laughed and slowly stood up. With Chuck insisting that he'll try to practice what Sarah was saying to him near the bars, he said to Sarah that she should enjoy skating in the rink for a few minutes, without him as distraction.

Sarah wasn't sure if that was a good idea but she obliged. Chuck was amazed at how big the smile in Sarah's face was as she glided gracefully in the rink. He had a feeling that she was remembering the time when she was little. Of course he was happy that she was opening up to him slowly, but it didn't damper the sadness that he feels whenever something bad happened in her stories. So as he struggled learning how to skate for his wife, he wondered if he could buy her something. Given that he can't afford her dream home anymore, he thought that he should ask Ellie about his new idea.

xoxoxoxo

"Chuck! What's this?"

Chuck paused the video game he was playing to turn around to look at his surprised wife. In her hands was a white roller skate with purple wheels and a big silver ribbon on it. He was expecting her to see that much later tonight but Sarah had a knack of finding her surprises on their closet.

"Happy almost-sixth-month anniversary?" he said with an awkward smile and approached her

"How'd you find this?" she asked

"I've got elves that help me with these things." He replied with a smile. Sarah was still silent and Chuck was worried that he'd done something to upset her.

"You know, I can tell my elves that you don't want it or—or change the color… I don't know if you hate purple but-"

"It's perfect, Chuck." she said with a smile on her face and kissed him.

"You're welcome. You wanna try it on?" he asked and led her to their couch.

He was glad that she liked it. The last time she saw Sarah's smile that big was when she was skating in the rink that they went on a few days ago. He knows that this wasn't enough to please his lovely wife to celebrate their sixth month anniversary as a married couple, and he was still wishing that he could afford her dream home, with a red door and a white picket fence, but until he could buy it, he was thrilled that at least he made one bitter memory of hers to be a good one.

* * *

**So, what do you think?**

**Reviews, comments, violent reactions are well appreciated. I'm sorry if there are wrong grammars. Ciao!**


End file.
